"Fine"

He's just 6 years old.....olive skinned with Egyptian ancestry.

Big, brown eyes that sparkle with laughter.  Fleetingly.

Big, brown eyes that are not blind, yet don't see the way I see.  Empty at times.  Wild at times.  Always darting.

Smart.  Can read whole books.  Yet no comprehension.

Can count and do myriads of other kindergarten level tasks.  Yet with no verbalizations.

He can physically talk.

He chooses not to.

"Good Morning, A----" I say one morning, taking his adorable face into my hands so his eyes (might!) look into mine.

"Good morning" he parrots back to me.  Mechanical voice.

"A----how ARE you??" I ask in a cheery, sing-song voice that the music therapist says to try.

And A-- surprises me!!! He responds!!  He looks into my face and makes eye contact!!!!  He reaches for me.......he reaches for my necklace.......he is making contact!! 

And my soul soars. 

I wait.  I hold my breath......will he answer appropriately????

"FINE" he says.  And then his eyes flit away seeing only what he knows in his mind that none of us can see.

 

 The above scenario is played out often in the classroom where I teach.  We have 4 special needs students this year. Two of them are boys with autism.  I work closely with one and work often with the boy I call "A" from the above anecdote.  This actually happened on Wednesday of this past week.

And I learned something from this precious child.  I think it was God showing me a lesson for many of us.

How often do we allow our eyes to flit from one thing to another, rather than keeping them focused on the One who wants us to speak directly to Him??

How often does He call our names and we choose not to respond??

We read His Word.  Do we fully comprehend it??

Does He have to grab our attention in some dramatic way, the way I often have to grab A----'s attention and "force" him to look at me....to answer back.....do we parrot back to the Lord what we think He wants to hear??

Or do we lovingly reach out........and answer Him.....and seek His Face........